Finished Halo 3 thread (spoilers coming out ya ears)

[Big Shady]

Just finished Halo 3.

What a load of BS. I mean the ending and all was better than Halo 2. The campaign was better than Halo 2. It felt more Halo 1 than 2, and it came full circle.

BUT

Where was the frickin' huge battle the big advertising campaign is all about (John 117 Monument). I totally thought the game would end with that epic battle. Halo's version of the Battle of Helm's Deep. No where to be found.

What do we get instead. The game back ends with the 2 worst levels of the game (I hate the flood) and the last game play sequence is basically the same race with the warthog end game we got with Halo 1 (which is fine and fun), and decent ending that leaves the franchise open to more games, books, movies, etc.

Anyways, the multi-player is rock solid, and I love the Forge, so I'm going to get a lot of mileage out of the whole package.

Just the moral of the story, if you're gonna build up this huge battle and not execute, then why build it up at all?

 

[SpamYouToDeath]

Just the moral of the story, if you're gonna build up this huge battle and not execute, then why build it up at all?

Don't worry. It'll finish up by Halo 17. (A cashcow of a story like this is too big to finish up.)

 

[LoneSage]

Kinda like the MGS series, I see this being the end of whatever arc this would be considered in the Halo games, but not the end of the series itself.

There will definitely be another Halo .

 

[wizkid007]

I hate to say it man. But I am pretty sure that it was excluded due to time. The game hasnt been in development all that long. And they needed this game to really push the 360 for the christmas season. Its basically the game that solidifies microsofts presence against sony over the next couple of yrs system lead wise.

Think business for a second. The answer is hidden in there.

Its an unfinished product.

 

[Setsuna1982]

so the scene in the diorama never happened?

That means that old man was lying... he wasn't there!

 

[Big Shady]

I hate to say it man. But I am pretty sure that it was excluded due to time. The game hasnt been in development all that long. And they needed this game to really push the 360 for the christmas season. Its basically the game that solidifies microsofts presence against sony over the next couple of yrs system lead wise.

Think business for a second. The answer is hidden in there.

Its an unfinished product.

Very possible. I am very familiar with feature creep and deadlines (being a developer myself), but stupid marketing nitwits. They get me all hyped up for this epic battle that I never got to experience (supposedly this epic battle happens as Earth makes its last stand and I run off to the Ark).

 

[kernow]

god, you'd think a game developer would be able to tell shitty games, and non-shitty games apart.

oh well, shit breeds more shit

 

[RAINBOW PONY]

hahahahaha

 

[Nesagwa]

hahahahaha

Youre doing it wrong.

 

[RAINBOW PONY]

Youre doing it wrong.

Oh, you dropped this : '

I found it for you.

 

[Rade K]

I'm really, really sick of people calling out videogames for having shitty stories.

Games /= Art.

 

[Big Shady]

god, you'd think a game developer would be able to tell shitty games, and non-shitty games apart.

oh well, shit breeds more shit

Halo 3 is far from a shitty game. Mechanics and game design, its very solid and better than the majority of games.

Story-telling, its pretty average.

 

[Eldios]

I beat it yesterday on 4 player co-op legendary difficulty. All and all I was pleased with the game. My biggest complaint was that the second to last stage was just a horror to get through. Wasn't even fun. Definitely will be another Halo. Definitely will not be against the covenant, but I wouldn't be surprised if a new threat emerged. Also, new Halo won't be for a very long time. Definitely post 360. 2010 earliest.

 

[OrochiEddie]

I hate to say it man. But I am pretty sure that it was excluded due to time. The game hasnt been in development all that long. And they needed this game to really push the 360 for the christmas season. Its basically the game that solidifies microsofts presence against sony over the next couple of yrs system lead wise.

Think business for a second. The answer is hidden in there.

Its an unfinished product.

Yup, that's what happened with Halo2. If you bought the special edition you saw all the things they didn't add due to time restraints. Bungie never has gotten the time to make the game as they see fit it seems.

So, GoW or Halo3?

 

[Magician]

I've gotta agree that the last two levels are fucking terrible. But everything leading to those two levels are a gas. WTF is with these games dropping off at the end? First BioShock, now Halo 3. Are deadlines always going to kill endgames now?

 

[Big Shady]

I've gotta agree that the last two levels are fucking terrible. But everything leading to those two levels are a gas. WTF is with these games dropping off at the end? First BioShock, now Halo 3. Are deadlines always going to kill endgames now?

The beginning and end of games are usually made at the start to bookend the project. Maybe bungie runs things differently and time was a major factor in crappy levels, but usually less polish is given towards a games last levels are they people focus on polishing the beginning for a nice demo, and the middle is when people are peaking and creating the good stuff.

Also, the Flood are just terrible enemies. You spend the majority of the game getting into fire fights, flanking, and the having the feeling of being embroiled in battle, but then you fight the Flood and the game changes. The Flood are strong, numerous, and just charge you with no regard for their own safety. They are a stupid opponent to have, they should have been cut from the outset of Halo: CE.

 

[Buro Destruct]

Man you people are fucking JADED.

One - The ending is fucking genius. Anyone who's played Marathon Infinity will appreciate the utter melancholy of the ending and the coda afterwards. I loved it. And hated it because its so full of despair.

Two - The second to last level is the worst thing I've ever dealt with. On Normal it was a pain, on Legendary I'll be punching holes in the fabric of timespace. I didn't hate the level design so much as the new Flood enemies. That hand/crab thing that turns into that wall hugging turret thing? CHRIST.

Three - The final Warthog run, in my opinion, is intentionally like the end of Halo. In case nobody noticed, the games have a severe circle/triad theme going. Mirroring the final run of the Pillar of Autumn across the unfinished scaffolding of the new Halo 04 is supposed to be like a "come around full circle" type of thing. Just imho.

Four - Fucking genius genius genius. The Marathon terminals? GREAT TOUCH.

 

[abasuto]

god, you'd think a game developer would be able to tell shitty games, and non-shitty games apart.

I'm willing to guess that plenty of developers bitch about the games they make.

They have no choice, it's called "make a product that sales to the masses" or bye bye.

 

[Poison Sama]

Man you people are fucking JADED.

One - The ending is fucking genius. Anyone who's played Marathon Infinity will appreciate the utter melancholy of the ending and the coda afterwards. I loved it. And hated it because its so full of despair.

Two - The second to last level is the worst thing I've ever dealt with. On Normal it was a pain, on Legendary I'll be punching holes in the fabric of timespace. I didn't hate the level design so much as the new Flood enemies. That hand/crab thing that turns into that wall hugging turret thing? CHRIST.

Three - The final Warthog run, in my opinion, is intentionally like the end of Halo. In case nobody noticed, the games have a severe circle/triad theme going. Mirroring the final run of the Pillar of Autumn across the unfinished scaffolding of the new Halo 04 is supposed to be like a "come around full circle" type of thing. Just imho.

Four - Fucking genius genius genius. The Marathon terminals? GREAT TOUCH.

Finally, some impressions that are worth taking seriously, from someone who actually knows what they're talking about.

 

[norton9478]

I played the first game for about 10 minutes.... Thought it was pretty average...


Let me know when they make an RTS in the franchise...

 

[Big Shady]

I didn't hate the level design so much as the new Flood enemies. That hand/crab thing that turns into that wall hugging turret thing? CHRIST.

Totally with you on that one. I beat the game on Heroic on my first play through and that area almost had me say "fuck it, I'll deal with it tomorrow"

Throughout today, I've thought more about the game as a whole and it was very good. If I didn't have the expectation of an epic last stand battle, the end of the game would have been totally fine for me. The end "race with the warthog" is great fun and homage to Halo: CE, the ending cinema is good, and bringing it full circle to place the Chief back in cryo is great.

I just couldn't help my sudden impulse to be like "FUCK" since I was really looking forward to that battle the monument was created about. As I was escaping the Ark I was thinking "Oh man, here it comes. We're gonna crash on Earth and one last epic 20 minute battle is gonna go down." And it didn't happen, initially I was sour about it, but hey great game

 

[Big Shady]

Let me know when they make an RTS in the franchise...

Halo Wars for the 360 only, so I don't have high hopes for it. I'm not sure how well an RTS will work with the 360 pad, but I'll give it ago.

 

[abasuto]

I'm not sure how well an RTS will work with the 360 pad, but I'll give it ago.

After playing C&C3 on the 360 over at friend's house; It's half-tolerable at best.

 

[Poison Sama]

After playing C&C3 on the 360 over at friend's house; It's half-tolerable at best.

If it's done right, Halo Wars won't have resources to manage or structures to build, so it might be easier to control.

Myth with guns & vehicles, like how Halo was originally supposed to be plzkthx

 

[norton9478]

Halo Wars for the 360 only, so I don't have high hopes for it. I'm not sure how well an RTS will work with the 360 pad, but I'll give it ago.

How was the LOTR RTS???

I know CONSOLE RTS's Suck (except maybe North and South), but so didn't Console FPS's at one point.